


The Lonely Sea and the Sky

by stagecrime



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: 18th Century, Alternate Universe - Muggle, Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, Alternate Universe - Pirate, But there will be more chapters, Chaptered, DRUNK SIRIUS BLACK IS A FUCKING DISASTER, I'm not even sure what this is, M/M, One Shot, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pirates, Swearing, This is a, all right kay that's enough tag rambling for today, also thank you dan!!!, and you know what?, clearing up loose ends is overrated anyway, i'm laughing at myself so hard, like no kidding, ok kay you need to stop, they're pirates okay, this is hilarious and terrible, you wonderful person you
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:26:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26365684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stagecrime/pseuds/stagecrime
Summary: "Sirius Black pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, yet again. "I tried, I promise.""Pirate.""So are you."(In which they're pirates.)
Relationships: Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 10
Kudos: 21





	1. Chapter 1

“That’ll do.”

The man tied off his last knot, looping the rope around the mast. He turned to where the words had come from, rolling his eyes. “I know how to tie a rope, Captain.”

“Sure you do. Pettigrew,” the captain said, rolling his eyes right back.

Pettigrew rolled his eyes again. So did the captain. Then Pettigrew. And the captain. Again. And again. And again.

The captain rolled his eyes one last time and determinedly walked away. Pettigrew sighed.

\--

Remus was desperate. He didn’t know what else he could do. He no longer had a job, or parents, or, well, anything. Even his dog had left him, disappearing in the dead of night, leaving Remus to wonder where he had gone. This was his last opportunity. And although he didn’t know it, yet, it was Sirius’ too.

Taking a deep breath in, he stepped up to the ship, The Marauder.

“You’ll be Lupin, then?”

“I- yes. Remus, Remus Lupin.” Remus was looking at a short, blond man, the kind who’d be more likely to work in a bar than on a ship. The man nodded.

“Come on, then.” The man turned and started up toward the ship with Remus in tow.

\--

After he’d gotten over the initial shock of being hired, even if it was only as a cabin boy, Remus had time to fully appreciate the captain’s beauty. He knew he sounded cliche, even to himself, but fucking hell, Captain Black was _beautiful._

Remus shook himself. It wouldn’t do to overcomplicate what was already too complicated for comfort.

“Lupin?”

Remus took a moment to appreciate how good his name sounded in the Captain’s posh accent, then: “Yes, Captain?”

The captain smirked - _no, stop, Lupin, this isn’t the time_ \- and said, “None of that, call me Sirius. Anyway, fetch me some ale, would you?”

Remus tried not to look disappointed, and simply nodded and went off toward the kitchens. _Sirius,_ he thought. Was that his first name?

The kitchens were empty but for one woman, facing away from Remus. She didn’t seem to notice him, digging in a barrel of apples, dark hair flying behind her.

“Excuse me?”

The woman quickly turned, dropping the apples back into the barrel. She opened her mouth, ready to speak, but closed it and softened when she saw Remus. “Yes?”

“I was wondering if there was any ale here? For the captain.”

“Ah, I should’ve known.” She turned away again and dug in another barrel, eventually holding up a bottle of ale. “Here you are.”

“Thank you.”

“Oh, there’s no need to be so formal, we’re pirates for god’s sake. And I’m Dorcas Meadowes, but just the cook to you.”

Remus laughed. “I’m Remus Lupin, but just the cabin boy to you. Or Lupin.”

“Remus.”

“Remus, then.” Remus smiled tightly, took the bottle and left, Dorcas waving after him. Now where had he seen the captain? _Sirius_ , he mentally corrected himself. But where was he?

Remus looked around as he walked across the ship, increasingly frustrated. Where had he seen the captain?

“Captain?” Remus called out. “I have your ale.”

Silence.

"Captain Black?"

More silence.

"Sirius?"

Not only did Sirius not respond, but it seemed like the whole ship suddenly quieted down. 

Remus looked around. He didn't see anything he recognized, but...wait, was that Pettigrew?

"Lupin? Is that you?" Pettigrew said. Remus jumped, almost dropping the bottle of ale.

"Yes, it's me, Remus, hello, do you know where the captain is?" Remus rushed out.

Pettigrew chuckled. "Calm down, he's probably in his study. The third room on the left."

"Oh- thank you. Thank you."

"Calm down," Pettigrew repeated, drawing out the word. "Nervous?"

"A little," Remus admitted, shrugging.

“Well, don’t be. Nothing to be nervous about.”

Remus smiled, nodded, and walked away. Again.

The third room on the left was indeed a study, but a completely empty one. Remus stopped to admire the beautiful carvings on the desk and chair, and the tapestries on the walls. It seemed a bit much for a pirate ship, but maybe that was just how Captain Black was. Remus sighed.

“I- um- sir?”

Pettigrew turned back around from where he was about to go down another corridor (how many of these were on this damned ship?) and said, “Peter. Peter Pettigrew, but you know that.”

“Mr. Pettigrew - the captain’s not in his study.”

Peter sighed, much like Remus had, and rolled his eyes. “No? Maybe on the deck, then. Upstairs.”

Remus nodded and made to walk away, but Peter put out a hand to stop him. “Hey- just so you know, if he’s in one of his moods...might be best not to bother him. Even with ale.”

Nodding slowly, Remus said, “All right, I understand.” Though he didn’t, exactly.

Peter grinned and - _finally_ \- went down that corridor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are life <3  
> Title from John Masefield's "Sea-Fever."


	2. Chapter 2

Sirius was fucked. Utterly fucked. Not only did he, on impulse, hire a cabin boy he didn’t need and would have to feed, but this cabin boy also happened to be the finest specimen of man he had ever witnessed with his own two eyes. Everything about him was perfect. His eyes, his hair, his perfect skin…

But that was not a safe path to go down. He had more important things on his mind than (cabin) boys being adorable. Such as feeding said cabin boys. Dorcas had already been complaining that they were a barrel of apples short, and _fuck,_ he wanted some ale. Where had Lupin gone?

\--

In retrospect, this was all James’ fault. He had been the one to give Lupin the okay for an interview. Never mind that Sirius had been the one to hire him, when presented with that face what else could he do?

“Potter.” Sirius said. Ale, he needed ale. “Potter?”

James didn’t answer, or else didn’t hear. Which was pretty rude of him, honestly.

Sirius walked down the hall, looking for someone. Anyone. He turned onto a deck that at first glance seemed to be empty, but looking again, Evans stood leaning on the railing, staring out to sea.

“Evans!”

“Black.” she replied, deadpan, without looking at him.

“That’s Captain to you.” Sirius watched Evans roll her eyes - _the crew seemed to do an awful lot of that, didn’t they_ \- “Have you seen Potter?”

If it was possible, that irritated Evans even more. “Have I seen him? Have I _seen_ him? Oh, I’ve seen him, all right. And I hope to never again.”

“What did he do this time?” Sirius said, smiling fondly.

“I- I don’t want to talk about it.”

Sirius slowly raised an eyebrow.

Lily tried and failed to hide her grin with a scowl. “All right, so maybe I don’t hate him as much as I say, but that doesn’t make him any less of an arrogant toerag. Do you know what he did today?”

“Do tell.”

“He said, ‘I’m attracted to you. And according to Newton’s Law of Gravitation, you’re attracted to me too.”

“What?”

“That’s what he said. And I was so confused. What in the seven hells is Newton’s Law of Gravitation? So I asked around, and apparently Newton is some fancy scientist and his law of gravitation is something to do with people being attracted to each other. Which I am obviously not.”

“That doesn’t explain why you’re blushing right now.” Sirius smirked.

“Oh, shut up. And the law isn’t even proven.”

“And we’re pirates. Since when have we followed the law?” Sirius said, playing along.

“Not that kind of law. But yes. And you know what he did after that?” Evans rolled her eyes.

“What?”

“He almost fell off the ship.”

Sirius snorted.

“Hey, Evans.”

“What?”

“I’ll tell James to fuck off for you. Happy?”

Evans grinned. “Yes, happy. Thank you.” She leaned in and hugged him, hard.

“Whoa- okay, okay. You’re welcome, yes, okay, bye.” Sirius said, trying to pull away.

“Okay. Bye,” Evans smiled and finally let go.

\--

Where the _hell_ was Lupin?

\--

“James!”

No one answered. Sirius rolled his eyes; was everyone missing on this ship? _Probably_ , he thought, rolling his eyes again.

\--

James Potter strode out of the hold, looking like a man on a mission and completely ignoring the captain calling his name. “Evans?” he called out.

Lily Evans very determinedly did not look at him. “Sirius?”

Sirius Black pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, yet again. “I tried, I promise.”

“Pirate.”

“So are you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are life <3


	3. Chapter 3

Remus waited for Peter to disappear down the corridor before leaving to find the captain. As one does. The deck, Peter had said? Starting toward the stairs, he decided that when he did find the captain, he would give him a piece of his mind for just disappearing like that. He’d been looking for him for almost half an hour - but no. Sirius was the captain, and Remus just his cabin boy.

At the top of the stairs was yet another corridor - just how big was this ship anyway? Remus took a deep breath and walked all the way down, glancing into each room as he went just in case Sirius was in there. (He wasn’t, but what did Remus expect anyway?)

Finally finding the end of the hallway, he realized that this was the right hall after all. There was the deck! But, was Sirius here, was the real question. He looked around; it seemed to be becoming a habit by now. Ah, yes, there was Sirius - tightly hugging a woman with fiery red hair and closed eyes.

Remus shut his eyes as well. He had found Sirius -  _ finally _ \- but it seemed he wasn’t single after all. And as well,  _ straight _ . Really though, Remus should have known. And what did he think was going to happen anyway? This was work. Not pleasure.

_ Just keep telling yourself that, _ a voice sounded inside his head. He told it to shut up. Quietly.

Hearing footsteps, Remus looked over his shoulder. A dark man with large round glasses and hair as messy as all hell, looking murderous, walked (or would stomped be a better word?) across the deck, toward Sirius and the mystery woman. “Evans!” he said, loud enough that Remus could hear him clearly from twenty feet away.

“Sirius?” the woman said, obviously not talking to the other man.

Looking exasperated, Sirius said, “I tried, I promise.”

“Pirate.”

“So are you,” Sirius retorted, chuckling.

“Hey, Evans!”

“Potter,” the woman -  _ Evans? _ \- said, a muscle twitching in her jaw and narrowed green eyes.

“Did you like my joke?”

“Joke?”

“Newton’s Law? You know?”

“No, I do not know. And I don’t particularly care,” Evans said, annoyed. Sirius fought a smirk, meeting Remus’ eyes, and Remus tripped over the threshold, grabbing the doorframe to stop himself. How was it fair - fuck, how was it  _ possible _ for a person to look this good? Remus felt like he could drown, and not only in the sea. In Sirius’ fucking eyes.

It was at that moment Remus realized he was still holding the ale that got them into this whole mess. He took a deep breath in, then let it out, stepping over the threshold and purposefully walking toward Captain Black, holding out the damned bottle of ale.

Sirius snorted.

“Here. I- the ale,” Remus stammered, almost dropping it.

Sirius fully smirked now, taking it from Remus. “Thank you.”

“Of- of course.”

“God, you really are nervous, aren’t you?”

Remus didn’t say anything.

Sirius’ smile softened. “Don’t be. We’re not scary. Or as not scary as pirates can be, anyway.”

Remus opened his mouth, then closed it again and swallowed as Sirius downed half the bottle of ale, his adam’s apple bobbing as he did. Remus felt himself flush.

Sirius smirked. Remus didn’t move.

“All right there?” Sirius said. Remus nodded, if a bit too late. Sirius hesitated, then his smirk got even wider and he turned on his heel. In the back of his head, Remus could hear Evans and Potter bickering, but he ignored it. He gave a tight smile (this, too was becoming a habit, wasn’t it?) and turned away.

-

Once Remus no longer heard footsteps and finally deemed it safe to come out of the kitchens, he turned to Dorcas first. “D’you...do you know that woman?”

Dorcas raised her eyebrows. “Which one? I’m one of three ladies on this ship.”

“Uh...flaming red hair, green eyes...seems to really, really hate that man with the glasses?” Remus described.

“That’ll be Lily, Lily Evans,” Dorcas laughed. “I do know her, and yes, she really, really hates James Potter. Or so she says.”

“He seems really annoying.”

“Just around her. Otherwise he’s...normal. More normal, anyway. I reckon he’s always a bit obnoxious.”

“A bit?” Remus was skeptical. “Just a bit?”

Dorcas laughed again. “I like you, young man. And yes. He’s usually much better than this. I promise.”

“Pirate,” Remus used Lily’s line.

“So are you. Now. You’re not getting out of this one,” Dorcas said, grinning.

Remus, snickering, left.


	4. Chapter 4

Sirius was just a little bit confused. Just a little. Why had Lupin left? Where would he go, anyway? Although if he did need to get out of there, it was probably a better idea not to go after him. And had Sirius imagined that blush? He was sure it was real, but if he had…

It would be worse if he hadn’t, he told himself. This was already a mess, and he needed to think of a way to tell Remus he needed to fire him. Already.

Sirius sighed and raised the ale to his lips, then hesitated. He wanted to be sober for this, not that he wasn’t tipsy already but as sober as he could be. Now, he just needed to find Remus. Which was probably going to take longer than was convenient. Or even longer than should be possible. Sometimes it seemed like the ship wasn’t big enough for two people, and sometimes it seemed huge enough to fit a navy or two.

But Sirius wasn’t going to go down that train of thought.

He braced himself - this wasn’t an easy decision for him to make - and tossed the bottle of ale over the side of the ship. _Gently_ , as so to not lose sight of it. He might change his mind later.

Sirius wasn’t sure Remus knew, but he had been having a _bad day_ . First he’d hired Remus, which could have made for a wonderful day (or even life, but that was yet another train of thought that wouldn’t be prudent to explore) but for the matter of feeding him, then Lily had spotted the HMS Riddle from the crow’s nest, the navy ship his family was stationed on, which was never a good sign. Especially when your family works on a - _corrupted_ \- government ship and you’re a pirate.

Sirius really needed to stop thinking himself into an anxiety. Usually, this was the part when he’d take a swig of ale, but he didn’t even have that anymore. He closed his eyes tightly and turned away from the railing, from which he could still see his half-empty bottle of ale.

At least his throwing skills were adequate. If not the rest of his life.

Again, he needed to stop thinking. And drinking. Sirius sighed and looked around for Lily or James. They were gone. Or he just didn’t see them. Which seemed like a possibility in his current state.

Anyway.

“Marlene?” Sirius needed to talk to her. She was the only mildly sane person in this hell house.

“Black?” a voice shouted from somewhere else on the ship. How she heard him, Sirius didn’t know (although he was convinced she was a witch), but he could hear the smile in her voice. Sirius smiled as well. At least someone seemed to like him, somewhat.

“Help.”

Footsteps sounded from inside the ship. “I’m coming. Make yourself comfortable,” she said. She was used to his moods.

“Don’t tell me what to do on my own ship,” Sirius joked, smiling. Honestly, he felt better already.

\--

Remus quickly warmed to Dorcas. He usually took a while to trust people, but for some reason Dorcas immediately gained his trust and he didn’t even know why. Maybe it was because she’d never been unkind to him, but then again he’d talked to her all of two times. Sirius, on the other hand, Remus did not trust at all. He’d had too much experience with men like him.

Remus didn’t even know what he was hoping for, though. He’d never really talked to Black, and he didn’t believe in love at first sight. Strong physical attraction, yes. But not love. So what was he hoping for? He knew Black’s type.

However, he couldn’t deny the _strong physical attraction_ he felt when he looked at Sirius Black.

And there he went, falsely hoping again. Remus groaned. What he needed was to sleep. But that definitely wasn’t an option right now. He had an exterior crisis to deal with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are life <3


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so... I HAVE A BETA!! WOO!! Thank youuuuu @dannikathewomanika you amazing person

Sirius stumbled through the dark hallway, a lot drunker than he’d originally intended to get. Which was not at all, but still.

Why could he never stick to his resolutions? And why was this ship so goddamned dark?

Sirius looked up and saw stars. And the moon. So that was why.

Sirius racked his brains, trying to remember where he’d told Remus he could sleep. Nothing came up. He took a deep breath, slowing down, and slumped against the wall of his cabin, almost missing and falling sideways through the door.

Remus, obviously, was not in Sirius’ cabin. Actually, he was sleeping on the floor in the kitchens, because when he’d gone to ask Captain Black where he could sleep, he’d been blackout drunk. Not very good for holding a conversation, and not very good for answering questions.

But Sirius didn’t remember that. He gave up trying to get into his chair, and collapsed on the too-small bed, willing himself to fall asleep quickly and get it over with. He could confront - no, talk to - Lupin in the morning. Of course he could.

But was that a storm cloud on the horizon? Sirius swore it was. It didn’t look like it came in peace, either. Not to Sirius. No, this storm cloud was out for blood.

“All hands on deck!” Sirius shouted, moving quickly even when drunk. Ignoring the fact that he was almost tripping over his own feet, he sprinted (granted, slower than usual) toward the helm, looking around as he went so as to not run into any others. He did at least have _some_ sense of survival, after all. Some.

It was raining, though not heavily, by the time Sirius got to the helm. Grabbing hold of the slippery wheel to skid to a stop, he frantically looked around. The storm cloud was still there, looking, to Sirius, very, very angry. Sirius gulped. Where was the rest of the crew?

Most of them were still asleep. Remus was, for one. The kitchen floors proved to be more comfortable than he’d imagined. Or maybe he was just telling himself that.

Dorcas was still awake, and it seemed Lily was as well. Sirius could hear Dorcas clanking around in the kitchen, and Lily on the deck. How did everyone have so much energy? And yet, how did they have so little? The ship needed saving from that angry cloud.

Sirius glanced back up at the cloud, eyes widening. How was it already bigger than the last time he’d looked? He took a deep breath, then let it out through his nose, closing his eyes. He had to do this. He grabbed the wheel tighter, and twisted it sharply to the right. The entire ship immediately swung directly left, toward the open sea. Toward that damned storm cloud.

Shit, Sirius thought. Wrong direction. Maybe he was drunker than he thought. He’d completely forgotten how ships worked.

Holding on to the railing to steady himself, Sirius swung the wheel the other way, causing the ship to turn right. Away from the storm cloud. There, that was better.

Was it just Sirius, or was the clanking getting louder?

“Black!”

Sirius turned toward the shout, which sounded a lot like Lily. “What.”

Lily jerked her head toward the helm. “Steer better.”

Sirius set his jaw. “I am steering perfectly well, I am steering so well, I am steering all the well-”

Lily’s eyes narrowed. “You’re drunk.”

“Not thaaaaat drunk-”

“Drunk, and idiotic. Let me steer.”

“No.”

“Sirius.”

“No.”

“Sirius. You’re- how do I put this? You’re a fool when you’re drunk. A stubborn fool.”

Sirius blinked. “Arse.”

“I’m not wrong.”

“You are so wrong. Look at the storm cloud.”

“I...see the storm cloud.”

“Look how mad it is.”

Lily snickered. “Sirius, just how drunk are you?”

Before Sirius could answer, a very sleepy Remus Lupin stumbled out of the doorframe. “What’s going on?”

"...Long story. Involving alcohol and Sirius," Lily said, sighing.

Remus laughed nervously. "Is he all right.?"

"Ah, yes, he'll be fine, as long as he doesn't get us all into a reef. Or something equally as bad."

"I am not going to-" Sirius started angrily, at the same time as Remus said:  
"What's equally as bad?"

"Oh, the side of a mountain or some sort of whale or something. And, Sirius, there's no knowing what you're going to do when you're drunk. There have been worse things."

Remus smiled mischievously. "Worse things?"

"Oh, you don't know the half of it." Lily grinned, took Remus' hand, and said, "Shall we?"

Remus bit his lip, smiling, and nodded. They walked out of the room, leaving Sirius to stare behind them, indignant and possibly a little jealous.

He could prove himself, though. He could prove that he wasn't a _completely_ disastrous drunk...by safely steering the ship away from the angry storm cloud. He could do it. He believed in himself.

Somewhat. Just about enough.

"All right. This will be easy, so easy. I can do it, I can always do it." Sirius, still clenching the helm in an effort to stay upright, swung it hard. To the right.

"Fuck."

Maybe Sirius was kind of an idiot when drunk, making the same mistakes again.

He narrowed his eyes at the cloud - shit, he could positively _see_ an angry scowl in the patterns there - and turned the wheel to the left, causing the ship to swing right.

From somewhere inside the ship, Lily screamed bloody murder.

Sirius blinked.

“SIRIUS BLACK WHAT THE FUCK.” Lily screamed again; no words, just a high-pitched noise that made Sirius want to curl up and die. He didn’t move, just stood there, wheel in hand, staring at where the voice came from.

“Get off,” Lily commanded, walking as fast as Sirius had ever seen her (and Sirius had seen her do some pretty impressive things in his lifetime) over to where Sirius stood. She grabbed hold of the wheel, ignoring his protests, and when he tried to grab it back she hit him.

Standing to the side of Lily, still muttering about injustices, Sirius looked around. It was still totally dark, yet somehow that damned storm cloud was still perfectly visible. Sirius groaned and turned back around. “What?” he asked Lily.

“What do you mean, what?”

“Why did you take - no, commandeer - no, _hijack_ the ship? I was doing _perfectly fine._ ”

Lily sighed. “Fine. If you’re going to be like that...I can’t stop Drunk Sirius from doing anything he really wants to do. But don’t get any of us killed.”

Sirius - Drunk Sirius - grinned. “Yes, ma’am.”

-

Remus was awoken, at an ungodly hour, by what seemed like an earthquake, which, fortunately, he was used to. He crawled under the kitchen table, and was there for almost ten minutes before realizing there were other people on this ship. Who probably needed to stay safe too. Dorcas, for one, wasn’t in the kitchen, although technically there wasn’t any reason for her to be there at dawn and Remus didn’t know where she slept. He didn’t know where anyone slept, besides himself and the Captain.

As soon as Remus poked his head out of the kitchen doorway, he realized it was definitely not an earthquake that had shook the ship.

It was a crash.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> >:)

**Author's Note:**

> Title from John Masefield's "Sea-Fever."  
> Comments are life <3  
> I'm on Tumblr at [@silversickles](https://silversickles.tumblr.com) :)


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